Mark Your Calendar: Design Conferences

CHICAGO — May 2-6, 2017

HOW Design Live is the best design event—anywhere. And for the first time ever, 7 programs are converging into one huge experience that’s all about giving you the most personalized, inspiring and career-boosting 5 days ever! You could attend a bunch of smaller design conferences. Or you could attend HOW Design Live and get everything you need at one big event. HOW Design Live’s strength is its size and scale: 7 conferences in one place, thousands of designers in one place, over 100 speakers in one place. HOW Design Live is everything you need. No matter what work you do. No matter where you are in your career. You know how important it is to discover new ideas, new inspirations, and new skills. Get everything you need—career advice, business knowledge, and creative inspiration— in one place

You’re a designer, so we figured we’d give you the opportunity to design your own conference experience. For the first time ever, Mix and match your sessions, keynotes, networking events and even workshops from any of HOW Design Live’s five conferences the entire HOW Design Live schedule. Get the most value out of the conference by creating the agenda that’s perfect for you. The Big Ticket is your very best option: it gets you an all-access, five-day pass to any session, any workshop and any networking event at any of the five conferences, plus video session recordings, any keynote and MP3 recordings of most sessions. If you can’t spend five days with us, choose a one- or two-day registration and build your own program during that time period. If you are a full-time student, we’ve got a deal for you as well.

HOW Design Live’s programming is divided into seven programs:

Experience a mix of jaw-dropping inspiration and skill-building presentations for art directors, creative directors, graphic and interactive designers from all design disciplines. Whether you work in-house, at an agency or on your own terms, don’t miss this chance to hear top design practitioners share their process, learn valuable skills, gather critical career and business advice and be more creative. You have seen these presenters and their work featured in HOW + PRINT magazines and online, read their books on design and business, attended their online courses at HOW University – join us to hear key insights into how they create award-winning, drool-worthy work again and again. Learn more and REGISTER NOW!

Do you design packaging, products, or work on consumer brands? Today, the biggest brands in the world are evolving faster and are more nimble than ever before. Curated by The Dieline, the highly influential package design & consumer product branding website, this high-level series of sessions and panel discussions features expert speakers from a wide spectrum of well-known consumer brands and leading design agencies. This year’s program will teach you all about how brands are evolving for the next generation of consumers, and how you can be ready to deliver. Learn more and REGISTER NOW!

Design can be a transformative force both in business and in our everyday lives. Debbie Millman and the speakers of the Vision & Leadership program are creatives, authors, business and marketing experts who have clear vision and effective leadership. Whether you are managing a business or your own career, this program will help you develop clear vision, discover the tools you need and harness the force of design to achieve your business or personal leadership goals.Learn more and REGISTER NOW!

Some of the industry’s best design work being created today is busting out the doors of in-house creative departments. If you are an in-house manager or aspire to grow your career toward securing a top in-house creative position, this program will help you develop the business, communication, creative and leadership skills that will have your team producing their best work ever. As an in-house manager you’re responsible for inspiring your team, keeping the work running smoothly, selling ideas up the corporate ladder, and helping ensure that “corporate” and “creative” work together. The In-House Management program, led by long-time in-house team managers Andy Brenits and Ed Roberts, was designed with your many roles and unique challenges in mind. Learn more and REGISTER NOW!

What does it take to go from designer to creative entrepreneur? Marketing Mentor founder Ilise Benun has designed a program that will give you the inspiration and the next steps you need to grow. Whether you work in house and want to make the most of your passion project, dream of building your own business or want to take your existing business to the next level, this program will show you how. The sessions offer a mix of practical skills from industry experts and inspirational stories by successful design entrepreneurs about the business of creativity and creativity in business. Learn more and REGISTER NOW!

New in 2016 HOW Design Live has added HOW Interactive Design as a program track to provide designers who are tasked with creating multi-platform campaigns and designing for screens. Whether you work in an in-house, agency or freelance environment, you will gain a deeper understanding of how new technology is impacting your work and why it is important to your career goals. This new program features the “best of the best” speakers who have presented at the HOW Interactive Design Conference over the past several years including top industry practitioners and educators sharing their best practices, design process and award-winning case studies that are sure to inform and inspire.

In a fast-paced industry like ours, it can be challenging to stay up-to-date on all the best tools and resources for designers. Don’t miss these in-depth insights from some of the leading companies in our industry and some of your favorite stops in the HOW Design Live exhibit hall. Learn how to integrate this relevant and time-saving knowledge into you or your team’s workflow and create your best work yet.